Bulldogs that bad OR???

[Mark from Brisbane]

Ok , this is what I saw.

For the first 20-25 minutes there wasn’t much in that game BUT the really big difference was the Manly defence.

They were all hitting really hard ( and hurting ) and I thought at the time this is really going to be telling later in the game.

Jake almost cut Kikau in half in the first or second defensive set , and big Billy just never recovered.

Our forward pack , much maligned, were just relentless.

And as the game went on , the Bulldogs became more and more brittle , in essence tackled out of the game.

So whilst you are all entitled to your opinions like “ we only won because they were **** “ , I’d like to think we won because our defence was first class ( for almost every minute of the game ).

Yes , let’s see how we go against one of the top packs before buying Grand Final tickets , but I think it’s a better start than many are giving us credit for.

 

[XV-1]

The facts are the game was very close up till the time Flanagan got sin binned on a dubious bunker call.
We scored 2 tries when the dogs had 12 players. Game over.

Burton and Kikau were terrible. We scored two tries directly as a result of Addo Car mistakes

Their hooker was brilliant.

We did enough to win. That is all.

We will have to improve across the park to beat Parra in two weeks.

 

[The Wheel]

The dogs were ordinary - 3 kicks out on full, intercepts etc.

But every game I watched in round 1 all teams have made mistakes and looked rusty at times. So far we are the only team to put a score on the opponent.

Will take the win but we need to improve a lot but so do other teams. Not sure the bye is coming at the right time!

 

[Will on the hill]

They were competitive in the first half but through slightly better game management and defence, we forced them to expend more energy than us. Couple that with the extreme heat and the somewhat dubious sin binning at half time they were knackered for the whole second half.

We had more left in the tank and better quality coming off the bench. This is one of the hallmarks of the best sides and something we haven't seen from Manly in a long time.

In short they weren't great but we made them look worse than they actually were.

 

[Nordburg]

Given Manly’s record in first rounds of recent yrs(more like decades really)happy to take the two points and walk away.The Dogs were ordinary but were missing a few front rowers and they’re not winning anything with Flanagan as their halfback.As for Burton,I’m still not convinced he’s the go to man for them.He looks great in stacked teams eg when he played for the Panthers or his rep games.Like most teams will be,Manly were a bit rusty but that’ll hopefilly improve.Not sure the bye has come at the best of times for them though,but so be it

 

[manlyfan76]

We hit them hard up front. Ran back through the middle with gusto.
Our defence from the forwards was very encouraging, which put pressure on second rate halves.
Good times.

 

[Briza]

It comes back to Defense for mine, we were outstanding in that area and recieved a pass mark in all others.

 

[Woodsie]

Will take the win but we need to improve a lot but so do other teams. Not sure the bye is coming at the right time!

I thought the same thing .. but I now think it will be an advantage ... the team just had their first real game under the new structures and systems ... and I am sure there were times when they got it wrong ... now Seibs and Flanno have got an extra few days of video and field work to reinforce the message before the next hit out.

That's the spin I'm putting on it anyway ..

 

[mickqld]

Having a Thurs night game vs Parra I'm glad we have the bye next week. That was energy sapping conditions yesterday so with 11 days to recover and Parra have a tough one vs the Sharks on Fri night and then only 5 days to recover.

 

[mjb136]

We scored 2 tries whilst they were down to 12 men, that let the air out of the tyres for the doggies. Their combos weren't there, looked disjointed. The real test will be round 3 and 4, Eels and Rabbitohs.

 

[Will on the hill]

Having a Thurs night game vs Parra I'm glad we have the bye next week. That was energy sapping conditions yesterday so with 11 days to recover and Parra have a tough one vs the Sharks on Fri night and then only 5 days to recover.

Parra have to play Us, Panthers and Roosters in R3,4,5. All 3 teams have the bye in the previous round. If that was us I'd be filthy but seeing as it's the Eels I'll allow it.

 

[Ranga]

I thought the same thing .. but I now think it will be an advantage ... the team just had their first real game under the new structures and systems ... and I am sure there were times when they got it wrong ... now Seibs and Flanno have got an extra few days of video and field work to reinforce the message before the next hit out.

That's the spin I'm putting on it anyway ..

I think the fact we won means the effect of the bye is at worst neutral. If we had lost, making it 8 losses in a row, the bye would probably only add more pressure around the place.

The way I look at it, the win yesterday helped flush the remnants from last year, and we can look to start our season fresh on 4 points come round 3.

 

[IQofalimabean]

The same team as last year wouldnt have beaten the chooks in that trial. Parra will be a better test of where we are at though.

 

[The Who]

I believe everything I read in the press, so yesterday we were pitted against:

• the best young coach the NRL has ever had (and the highest paid)
• the most dynamic running forward in the history of the game (with the worst haircut)
• a 5/8 with the biggest, baddest boot in the business (who often confuses the sideline with the playing field)
• the world's best winger (when he is given some decent ball)
• a club with pokie revenues to pay overs for any player they want (plus a hotel baron as a sponsor who is very generous)
• a Big Chief who knows more than anyone about RL (including how he came up with the idea of putting air inside the football)
• a hooker from Parra who is pretty good

This last point is the only valid one I saw yesterday to give hope to Doggie supporters that all the media hype may have a grain of truth in it.

 

[Ranga]

The same team as last year wouldnt have beaten the chooks in that trial. Parra will be a better test of where we are at though.

The one thing that I realised yesterday is that the Eels lost a lot when not re-signing Mahoney. I knew he was good, but didn’t think he was that good. So Parra will be a good test, but I don’t think it’s an insurmountable test by any stretch.

 

[Rocky]

My read on it was that we just concentrated on doing the basics well. And Seibold knew if they did that we would win.

It's a long season. Start with a strong defensive effort and mistake free footy.

And build from there over the year.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

It was a nice change to get an also ran in the first round compared to the last 3 seasons of Penrith, Roosters and Melbourne

 

[Bearfax]

Bulldogs are a side rebuilding after some dreadful years like Manly. They have bought a number of new players and it always takes time to establish a synchronization. They'll get better and will be a middle of the pack side with some prospect of sneaking into the 8. Manly looked hungry. Haven't seen that in quite a while. They have a team on the rise and all it needs is confidence to know they can challenge the best sides. Early days and barring injury they should make the 8 and possibly an outside chance of the 4. Today's performance was most encouraging and it looked like they wanted to win. Consequently DCE didnt have to rush around like a headless chook as some describe it, because I suspect he had more confidence in the side, especially having Tom as custodian. I'll be interested to see how much Schuster adds to the side and also Gordon when he gets his chance. Those two could take Manly to another level. Hope also young Weekes gets more game time. I suspect he's got star quality along with Koula. And gee I like Garrick. The ultimate professional.

 

[ricardo]

We got on top with some excellent defence then stayed there when the dogs tired. I wouldn't get overly excited, but very happy with a win and how they played. Next few games we will know.

 

[manlyfan76]

We were missing out 5/8
Our Winger
Our utility ( Lawton)
And probably a few others in GCKT and Fainu.